Those time travelers that year

Those were Nag and Ovina, who had been killed earlier. However, at this moment, they could no longer be considered alive. Although their wounds had disappeared and even the tattered clothes had been repaired, they both had lifeless expressions, as if they had no souls.

And that's pretty much the case.

"Go!" With a wave of his hand, he signaled for the two puppets, whom Sharl had turned into wandering spirits and was now controlling, to leave. Nag and Ovina bowed to Sharl and then quickly departed, heading towards the city gate.

"This should ignite the fighting spirit of the Radiant's heroes!" Watching the two leave, Sharl recalled the Farron Undead Legion into their Reality Covenant, then had Black Wolf sink back into the shadows. "I hope you guys perform well! The righteous Radiant, you'd better leave the evil Nightshade behind, so I don't have to waste my energy..."

122. Siege Warfare

At the city wall, the alerted soldiers rushed to the top. Archers drew their longbows and unleashed a volley of arrows at the dozens of colossal creatures approaching the wall. The dense rain of arrows enveloped the giants, riddling them with arrows. However, this had no effect; these towering tree-men, with their heavy steps, completely ignored the arrows raining down from above.

Only spells cast by certain mages can truly harm these treants. However, even mages of the highest rank can only leave a faint mark on them with their magic. Even spells from high-ranking mages, which could normally inflict heavy casualties, merely cause the treants to hesitate for a moment. In fact, they are less effective than the giant crossbow bolts fired from the city walls.

Boom! Boom! The cannons on the city walls roared, bombarding the treants with heavy artillery fire. It was clear that the treants were being forced back several steps by the onslaught of cannon fodder. Flames and cannon fire pierced and ignited their bodies. Only the cannons were having any real effect; these treants seemed to possess considerable magic resistance. Against them, the powerful spells of mages were rendered useless. The cannonballs, propelled by kinetic energy, were effective in damaging the treants, but unfortunately, it was still a drop in the ocean.

The tree people are too big and too numerous.

With the entire city's defenses shut down, the magic towers, deprived of power, lost the magical aura that had been swirling around them. Those spells or artifacts capable of threatening a hero became lifeless without energy. Otherwise, how could mere treants threaten the safety of a strategic fortress? Unfortunately, reality doesn't allow for "what ifs." The lack of preparedness led to a successful surprise attack, causing all defenses to collapse.

Once the tree-men reached the foot of the city walls, the artillery had to cease fire. These tree-men stretched out their massive wooden arms and pounded the walls repeatedly, the booming sounds and violent tremors making the entire defensive line teeter on the brink of collapse. However, the walls remained steadfast, unyielding to the tree-men's relentless assault. Similarly, the counterattacks from the soldiers defending the walls were utterly ineffective against the tree-men.

The situation reached a stalemate: the tree-men couldn't breach the city wall, and the defending soldiers were helpless against these thick-skinned tree-men. However, the situation soon changed. Seemingly frustrated by their inability to break through the wall, the tree-men seemed to have become clever, attempting to climb it, and they succeeded. Although the wall was much higher than the tree-men, two tree-men stacked together could easily reach the top. This also indicated that the tree-men were being controlled by someone.

But this was not good news for the defending soldiers. Their attacks were ineffective against the treants, who could easily swat away these soldiers, who were at least at the entry-level (third tier), like ants. Soon, the first treant climbed the city wall, and then its wooden arm swept across, knocking more than a dozen soldiers off the wall.

Fortunately, these soldiers did not die from the fall. They were simply crushed to pieces by the immense force of the impact when they were thrown into the air.

One after another, the treants scaled the city walls, crushing all the defending soldiers to death with overwhelming force. Even the cannons, arrow towers, and magic towers on the walls could not escape their fate. It seemed that this city, devoid of any defensive mechanisms, could be conquered simply by these summoned treants.

However, if that were all, then the Dire wouldn't be the force that had fought the Radiant for countless years. Just as the treants who had scaled the city walls were about to completely destroy the defenses, a fully armed knight, seemingly their leader, arrived at the top of the walls. This knight, wielding a longsword, immediately and without hesitation slashed at the rampaging treants in front of him. A blood-red blade of energy shot from the longsword and pierced into the body of one of the treants.

The treant, which even cannons couldn't harm, was staggered by the blade's energy. The knight charged forward, his longsword slashing continuously. After more than twenty strikes, the treant was finally shattered by the knight and crashed down from the city wall with a thud.

"Hold the line!" roared the knight who had just cut down a treant. "Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed without mercy!" With that, the knight swung his sword and cleaved a fleeing soldier in two.

The knight didn't scale the city wall alone; behind him charged dozens of fully armed, clearly elite soldiers. In an instant, the defensive line, which had been on the verge of collapse due to the treants' onslaught, was stabilized once more.

……

"There are so many experts in this world!" After making his move, Xia Er found another high vantage point and continued to watch the battle raging on the city walls unnoticed. "Even cannon fodder would be considered experts on the mystical side in the main world, but cannon fodder is still just cannon fodder." Logically speaking, a high-ranking mage of the fifth tier, equivalent to the peak of the main world, shouldn't be so weak. However, having deduced the identity of one of the Radiant [Heroes] attacking from these treants, Xia Er could only blame the bad luck of the mages guarding the city.

These treants possess magic resistance. Even hero-level spellcasters would have their magic partially neutralized, let alone high-level mages. High-level mages, far inferior to heroes, are practically useless against these magic-resistant and high-health treants! Physical attacks are more effective at damaging them than magic, but unfortunately, even with a knight of superior rank leading the charge, they can barely maintain the battle line.

Looking at the vast forest outside the city, Sharl had absolutely no confidence in the Night Elf's situation! There were plenty of cannon fodder to summon. Even if they could take down four or five treants, so what? In the game, the Radiant's [Hero] might be able to summon a very limited number of treants. But in reality, that entire forest was his source of troops. As long as the Night Elf didn't have a [Hero] to hold the line and couldn't repair and restart their defenses, that [Hero] alone could easily conquer and even raze the city to the ground.

"Showing off will only get you killed by someone jumping in with a knife!" Looking at the commander who had stabilized the battle line after entering the fray, Charles looked at this idiot who had drawn aggro the moment he stepped in with pitying eyes, a look of utter sorrow on his face. "Poor kid..."

Last night, I was exhausted and didn't get off work until 7:30. Thank goodness, all my colleagues had already left by 5:10... The last client to come in for insurance was a couple who looked like they were about to get married... I was really fed a whole bag of dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection)!!! 233333.....555555555555555555

123. Siege Warfare Continued

In the main world, power that currently only exists in rumors surpassing the fifth tier is defined as Master-level or [quasi-hero] in this world. Back in the main world, the demon who broke the seal and escaped, given his strength at the time, should have been equivalent to Master-level in this world. At his peak, he should have been equal to a [Hero] in this world, or a fully-powered Heroic Spirit in the Type-Moon universe. Unfortunately, that demon encountered Ciel, who was equally overpowered, and even more so, and thus tragically perished…

Similarly, in this siege, the Nightmare commander who, upon entering the fray, single-handedly turned the tide of battle, also attracted attention for his outstanding performance. It must be said that with this master-level knight leading the charge, the Nightmare's disadvantage on the city walls actually stabilized. The treants below the walls couldn't break them down quickly, and those who managed to scale the walls were few in number. Recovering from the chaos, the Nightmare soldiers began to display sufficient skill, relentlessly driving down one treant after another who had climbed the walls.

The commander, in particular, wielded a large sword with incredible skill, his blade flashing and exuding a menacing aura. He single-handedly cleaved a treant into dust in a short time, still having the strength to support other factions. Thanks to his valiant fighting and command, a stalemate was achieved. The treants couldn't breach the city walls, while the Dire forces could only relentlessly slaughter the treants that scaled the walls.

However, the situation quickly changed dramatically. This time, after the commander felled the sixth treant, his outstanding performance finally caught the attention of the other Radiant heroes. Previously, for the sake of caution, apart from the Prophet summoning an army of treants to launch an siege, the other Radiant heroes hadn't rushed to attack immediately. Otherwise, with their strength, they would have already breached the walls.

Now that they have confirmed there is no force in the city that can threaten them, the remaining Radiant heroes have finally set out.

Just as the Dire commander, with the help of his soldiers, had once again hacked a treant to pieces at the cost of three cannon fodder, a surge of ferocious killing intent erupted from outside the city and locked onto it. Sensing an aura powerful enough to obliterate him countless times, the Dire commander was terrified. Without hesitation, he turned and fled, running towards the passage leading down the city walls without a word.

The soldiers around him were momentarily stunned, but the next moment, they didn't need to think anymore. At the spot where the Nightmare commander had been standing, the space rippled slightly. A tall, fully armed man, wielding a massive sword and wearing a horned helmet that completely obscured his face, appeared there.

The man who suddenly appeared, his gaze hidden behind his helmet, fell upon the fleeing commander, then ignored the Nightmare soldiers who were startled by his sudden appearance. He raised his sword with one hand and swung it horizontally.

A cracking sound rang out as the man, wielding his greatsword with one hand, executed a seemingly simple horizontal slash from left to right. A long, narrow, twisted crease appeared on the blade, spreading dozens of meters away. Then, with a deafening roar, a hurricane swept across the top of the city wall. The solid rock above that section, which even the Treants couldn't budge, suddenly began to shatter. Of course, the Nightmare soldiers who couldn't escape in time also began to crack. Accompanying the billowing dust was a rain of blood.

This sudden enemy, with a mere casual slash, caused terrifying area-of-effect damage. In that instant, at least thirty or forty Nightshade soldiers were killed or maimed. And with a crash, a breach appeared in the city wall.

"Good reaction!" The enemy ignored the terrified soldiers and instead turned his gaze to the commander who had fled beforehand. That last slash, though merely a casual, probing attack, was not something a non-heroic professional could easily block.

The Nightmare commander had just faced an attack that could have killed him, or at least severely wounded him. Realizing he couldn't completely evade it, he decisively and ruthlessly grabbed the two nearest Nightmare soldiers and threw them into the oncoming slash. The two unfortunate soldiers were instantly killed, buying the commander enough time to swing his weapon and block the remaining attacks. Using the momentum from the blade and the blows, he quickly fled far away.

"Unfortunately, it was still a little short!"

Golden lightning surged from the gauntlet on the warrior's left hand, and then, with a clenched fist, he threw a punch into the air at the fleeing commander. A fist crackling with golden lightning appeared out of thin air and slammed into the commander who had chosen to run away without looking back.

Boom! A massive explosion and a burst of lightning engulfed the fleeing commander. Then, the warrior who had knocked the man down with a single punch from afar calmly walked towards the scene, sword in hand. That punch might not have been enough to obliterate a Master-level expert, but a finishing blow would suffice.

……

On the front lines, Radiant vs. Dire.

……

In the Vilogros Legion's encampment, the Nightmare's leader, the Lord of the Underworld, listened silently to the message that was being delivered, without uttering a word.

"The Radiant seems to be launching a full-scale attack!" Just then, [Invoker] walked over. "[Axe] and [Clinkz], those two troublemakers have already run off to the battlefield alone, acting on their own..."

"Looks like that bitch from the Legion actually won this time!" [The Lord of Evil] said. "They were well-prepared for this!"

"what happened?"

"We've been outmaneuvered! Those useless bastards behind us actually got tricked, and now [The Prophet] and a few other bastards are directly attacking our rear!" [The Lord of Sin] laughed loudly, "Hahaha, not bad, not bad, it seems I've lost to that little girl this time!"

"So what do we do now?" [The Inquirer] frowned and asked, "Retreat?!"

"It's not that easy. That bitch won't let us leave so easily!" said [The Lord of Evil]. "Besides, if I'm not mistaken, people probably can't use teleportation spells or items anymore!"

The Inquirer paused for a moment, then said, "That's right, my Travel Boots are completely unusable now. They've blocked and interfered with spatial teleportation throughout the battlefield."

"Hehehe! Since that bitch has such a big appetite, fine, I'll just grant her wish!" The [Lord of Evil] moved, pulling the giant blade stuck in the ground, and walked towards the battlefield. "Since that guy wants to play, then we'll play with her properly..."

I'll be updating less frequently lately, sorry. The company is busy with year-end harvests, so please bear with me!

124. The Stalemate on the Front Lines

On the battlefield, a fierce and brutal struggle raged between the two sides. On this battlefield, where both armies numbered in the tens of thousands, countless lives were being lost every moment. This battlefield was a millstone of flesh and blood, relentlessly crushing everything within it. In the sky, after several days of brutal aerial combat, neither side had gained the upper hand. Whether it was the powerful frost dragons or the valiant griffin and dragonhawk riders, they were all constantly falling from the sky in the relentless aerial battles.

On the Dire side, the Frost Wyrms have been reduced by half, with the remainder refusing to fight and returning to their lair to recuperate. Meanwhile, the Gargoyle Legion has been almost completely wiped out. However, the Radiant side is also in a difficult situation; at least for now, it's impossible to spot large groups of Gryphon Riders and Dragonhawk Riders in the sky.

Now, after the fierce aerial battle, an even more brutal ground war has begun. The Radiant side, having blocked spatial teleportation, is using a full-scale offensive to force the Dire side into close combat.

"Hmph!!" Looking at the stalemate on the front lines, [The Lord of Sin] snorted coldly, gazing into the distance. "Such a huge appetite, aren't you afraid of overeating yourself?!" Now, [The Lord of Sin] understood the enemy's plan. Because the strategic importance of his ultimate magic was simply too immense, any attempt to ambush his rear was futile without restraining him. However, now, the enemy was overwhelming him with their army and had also blocked the spatial teleportation capabilities of this battlefield, forcing him to confront them directly. They didn't even need to actually capture him; simply delaying him here would create the perfect opportunity for [The Hero] to launch a surprise attack on the city from the rear.

It's easy to imagine that a city without any heroes stationed there, having its core defense mechanisms compromised, is completely exposed. Even if other Dire heroes rush to its aid, how many will be able to make it in a short time? And even if they do, facing the well-rested Radiant heroes, they risk being killed.

Conversely, for the Lord of the Underworld, whose safety was essentially guaranteed by the five opposing heroes leading their armies and delaying him at the front lines, it was merely a matter of stalling his retreat for a while. Unless the five opponents were truly prepared to fight to the death, it only delayed his retreat for a period of time.

"Want to take advantage? Fine!" The [Lord of Evil]'s massive roar, amplified by magic, echoed throughout the entire battlefield. "But the price you'll pay won't be cheap!"

The Lord of Evil gripped his giant blade and raised it to the sky. With a surge of dark magic, dark clouds instantly filled the sky above the battlefield. Then, it rained—a rain of fire, deadly enough to kill.

【Firestorm】

A rain of fire descended from the sky, sweeping across most of the battlefield and crashing down upon the Radiant's positions. Flames and explosions erupted one after another across the land. Hundreds of soldiers were instantly incinerated in the first wave of fire, and as the rain continued, the casualty count grew ever larger. The [Lord of the Underworld], the [Hero] of the Dire, single-handedly orchestrated a massive aerial bombardment that rivaled, and perhaps even surpassed, a modern-day air campaign in power.

At this moment, facing the Nightshade's attack, the Radiant side reacted swiftly. A squad of knights, led by their commander, charged towards the position of the [Abomination] immediately. The leader was a master knight, invincible in their path, causing the [Abomination]'s soldiers to quickly form a defensive formation.

"Get out of my way!" However, [The Lord of the Underworld] did not believe this could threaten his safety. He shouted at the soldiers in front of him, then turned his gaze to [The Prayer] beside him.

The Invoker nodded, and then one of the three frost elemental orbs surrounding him vanished, replaced by a fire elemental orb burning with golden-red light. Facing the charging knights, the Invoker extended a hand towards them.

"Double the raging flames of ice, Kreix's Wall of Slaughter!"

The Wall of Ice

A massive wall of frost suddenly stretched across the battlefield, blocking the Radiant Knights' path. The charging knights, unable to stop in time, all crashed into it.

"Well done! [Prayer]~!" Seeing the knights crash into the ice wall without slowing down, then fall to their deaths and suffer the extreme cold, [Lord of the Abominations] laughed heartily.

However, the rising flames from the Radiant side quickly interrupted the Lord of the Underworld's maniacal laughter. A wave of fire swept across the Radiant forces from behind, slamming directly into the ice wall. The mage controlling the fire precisely directed every ounce of heat onto the ice wall; despite the intense heat capable of melting gold and iron, it failed to harm their own soldiers. The ice wall summoned by the Invoker had already begun to melt under the scorching heat of the fire.

"[Slayers]!" Seeing the counterattack from the other side, [Invoker] recognized the user of the fire wave. "That formidable woman is here too! I'll go hold her off..."

"Go!" [The Wicked Lord] nodded solemnly and said, "Don't let that woman go berserk and burn our entire army to the ground!"

"Double the lightning of ice, the obstruction of Miret." [Ghost Walk] activated, and [The Invoker] vanished from [The Lord of the Underworld]'s sight.

……

Radiant, Bronze Legion.

"That fire burned beautifully!" said [Slayers] with beaming eyes.

"Be careful. Although your fire mage is powerful, the opponent is a renowned elemental summoner," said the Legion Commander. "There won't be time to hold off that elemental magic expert for you later; you'll probably have to face him alone!"

"What's there to be afraid of!~" [Slayer] laughed smugly, "I have BKB, that [Invoker] is useless! Hehehehehe..."

Shaking her head, the Legion Commander ignored her erratic comrade, then raised her halberd high, pointing it at the Nightshade army, and shouted, "All troops, charge!"

Woo~ Woo~ Woo~ Woo~ Woo~ Woo~ Woo~

The thunderous sound of horns echoed across the battlefield...

125. Ambush!

Just as the Radiant and Dire legions were engaged in full-scale battle on the front lines, the siege of the city walls in the rear finally came to a conclusion. Without a [Hero] stationed there, it was clear that the Dire side was no match for the Radiant [Hero's] attacks, especially since the only defensive mechanism capable of countering this [Hero] class had been disabled. Once the Radiant [Hero] intervened, the outcome was sealed.

Using Kohler's Escape Dagger, the Wandering Swordsman, who had teleported from outside the city to the city wall, displayed an invincible aura. No matter who stood in his way, no matter how many, he dealt with them all with a single strike. The massive blade sliced ​​through the air, creating sonic booms. With a powerful swing, all the Nightmare soldiers and mages who stood in his way were torn to shreds by the storm created by the greatsword. The only one who lasted a little longer was the Nightmare commander, a master-level knight. After withstanding a Storm Fist from the Wandering Swordsman, he was finally felled by three more strikes from the Hero. This perfectly illustrated the fact that if you strike fast enough, the blood that spurts out can fly several meters.

After defeating the Nightmare commander, unsurprisingly, the Nightmare soldiers defending the city collapsed! If morale existed, these soldiers would have already dropped to zero, making a collapse inevitable, thus ending the battle for the city walls. In fact, it wasn't just [Wandering Swordsman] who joined the siege; on the other side of the walls, a giant bear smashed a hole in the wall that even the Treants couldn't breach, then charged in like a tank, rampaging and demolishing everything in its path.

After all resistance was lost, the treants summoned by the Radiant Prophet (Hero) finally scaled the city walls smoothly, utterly crushing the Dire defenders. Then, the Strength-type Hero, the Wanderer, cleaved open the city gate with a single blow, declaring the city defenses were gone. The treant army surged through the breached gate, mercilessly crushing any resistance in their path.

……

"Strange? Why haven't they arrived yet!?" Standing on the rooftop, concealing himself, Xia Er watched as the Radiant's heroes, the [Wandering Swordsman] and [Druid], swept through the city's defenses with unstoppable force, easily annihilating the Dire's resistance along with the treant soldiers that followed. "Didn't the Dire abandon their high ground!? They just let them take down the towers like that!"

"Didn't we receive any distress signals? Then why haven't we seen them yet?!" A scan of the visible area revealed no trace of the Nightmare [Heroes]. Similarly, none of the familiars scattered throughout the city had sent back any signals indicating they had detected the Nightmare [Heroes]. This led Sharl to suspect that the Nightmare had perhaps already abandoned the city!

"If I give up, wouldn't all my efforts have been for nothing!" Thinking of this possibility, Xia Er couldn't help but feel frustrated. "Don't say that! I've been camping here for so long, and you're telling me they're not going to use the high ground and just give up? Are you kidding me or something?!" Having realized the Radiant might attack the Dire city, Xia Er secretly infiltrated it, waiting for an opportunity to fish in troubled waters. After all, his targets were almost always Dire heroes. But unfortunately, it seems the Dire heroes haven't shown any sign of coming to their aid so far, making Xia Er feel like he'd wasted three whole days of waiting, completely ruined.

"Am I supposed to attack the Radiant's [Heroes] right now?" Charles muttered, glancing at the two Radiant [Heroes] who were leading a large group of treants towards the city's administrative center. "But those two are useless against me! One's a muscle-bound brute, the other's a cultist of the Mourning Winds... Ugh, am I supposed to use my shapeshifting spell to turn into a stupid bear?!"

"Never mind!" After thinking it over, Charles decided he couldn't afford to lose money. Since the Nightshade's [Heroes] hadn't appeared, targeting the Radiant's [Heroes] wasn't out of the question. Even if it wasn't suitable for him personally, he could still use the souls of those Radiant [Heroes] as kindling... oops! I mean, put them into their Reality Marble, erode them through the Abyss, and mold them into wandering spirits for use! At least, that would increase his number of subordinates.

……